Backstory
Mandira recalls living with her mother and father initially, having them involved in her life and going to trips with them. Her father especially went on a lot of work trips, Mandira wondering why sometimes he didn't bring her souvenirs when she'd ask, finding out he was having an affair with a coworker. Once it was obvious that he not only had another woman, but that she was pregnant, Mandira's family began to fall apart.
The months that followed were full of arguing, Mandira doing her best not to show her dissatisfaction if it'd help, often saying she was ok. When her parents decided to separate, her mother knowing she wasn't going to be able to provide for Mandira enough, Mandira's father got custody of her. All she said at that moment was ok. For her, she felt terrible being separated from her mother, to live with a woman who she didn't consider family, and the thought of her father starting a new family so easily felt so irresponsible, disrespectful to Mandira and her mother. When her brother Veli was born, she swore she wouldn't become attached and that she'd reunite with her mother one day.
As she got older, she continued to invest herself in her schoolwork, used to dismissing her brother initially, but even he felt fond of the same things as her; gardening, biology, science itself. Mandira must have liked science because it was fact, indisputable when she hated things like lies and false images. Preferring not to be at home, even if her stepmother wasn't a bad person, she didn't want to see her father the most, so she'd seek refuge in a flower shop in town. The old man who owned the shop was a kind person who listened to her worries, and didn't mind having her around if she could learn more about gardening.
Sometimes her brother followed her to the shop, but despite her initial requests to send him home, the florist encouraged him to stay too so, mostly so the teo siblings could grow closer. They did, caring for the same plants and talking more, Veli learning about Mandira's mother through their conversations. Inevitably, the florist stopped working and fell ill. Mandira visited to check on him every once in a while, but eventually he passed away, yet his shop was never taken down, opening up again in the near future.
As soon as Mandira noticed the shop opened up, she was quick to stop by and meet the new owner, the man's granddaughter Elodie. Elodie was similar to him in her passion towards nature, and being approachable enough that Mandira could get close to her like they were longtime friends, perhaps like sisters. Offering to work for her in between her schooling, Mandira got a job at the shop, eventually meeting the mandrakes living there.
While the mandrakes surprised her, at the same time she wasn't surprised someone as smart as Elodie's grandfather could come up with the impossible. Each one was so different, indvidiual, and Mandira enjoyed being around them and recalling what their grandfather was like. While she still prefers busying herself out of home, she keeps Veli close to her, and enjoys the company she has around. In the future, she'd like to still have a career in science, preferably as a chemist, but she can't deny she's loving biology and botany a lot more than before.